William Ruger & Thomas Savidge
On June 18, Joint Economic Committee (JEC) Vice Chair David Schweikert released the Republican Response to the Council of Economic Advisers’ 2024 Economic Report of the President. It warns that the national debt, $34.5 trillion and climbing, poses a risk to our economic growth and our ability to borrow for future needs—including national security demands in a crisis.
It is welcome to see policy leaders thinking through the implications, security and otherwise, of our massive national debt and deficit problem. When it comes to national security, the report is right to warn of the implications for our government’s ability to borrow to fund future contingencies. But the biggest risk related to our fiscal health is the harm debt problems do to our economy as a whole, the golden goose of our national power.
Unfortunately, we’re unlikely to hear about this subject during the presidential debate tonight. That’s because making necessary spending cuts and showing fiscal restraint is not what wins votes in our current political culture. But it is hard to blame politicians for responding to political incentives. To even have a chance at properly managing spending, rules need to be in place to limit how much politicians can spend and to require them to make cuts when necessary—and to do so without having to take specific, hard votes. This will give us some chance at saving our economic future and preserving our superpower status.
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